Timeless ❄️ColdFlash⚡

Chapter 3: Second Encounters

The last few days had been titillating to be sure. A couple one-on-ones with Kid Flash, the arrival of an alluring stranger, and Mick had agreed to work with Len to stake a new claim on the city in the wake of these heroic upheavals.

Len owed Mick a good turn after the job they last pulled ended with him burned over much of his body. In all honesty, if he'd only listened to Len, kept his cool, waited to start the fire as instructed so it wouldn't spread too quickly, the way things turned out might have been different, but passing the blame didn't work with Mick.

Len told him they were finished after that, once his friend was clear of infection and slowly healing, but he'd told Mick they were through many times over their decades' long friendship. They always ended up partners again. Len just hoped that this time he could give Mick proper direction.

The heat gun he'd gifted him was a good start.

Calling it quits in Central City with someone like Kid Flash around might have seemed the smarter play, but to Len, he saw opportunity. Besides, he knew the boy's weakness-compassion. He had a good heart, wouldn't let civilians get caught in the crossfire. Len had proven that point when he lured Kid Flash to the train.

He really was young, Len discovered, seeing the boy's face more clearly, even if most of it was covered by his mask. 'Kid' was a fitting title.

That night, Len had hoped the other speedster might show, help out like he had before once the train was headed toward disaster, but no such luck. Kid Flash saved the day as expected down to the last endangered citizen, but he did so without assistance.

"Pretty fast, Kid," Len snuck up on him in the aftermath and blasted him to freeze him to the ground, "but not fast enough. Where's your friend out of the suit? You got a big brother I don't know about?"

The startled concern that filled the kid's face said Len might have guessed right, despite the lacking family resemblance. Len figured he'd ice the kid further to ensure a safe getaway-if he could handle the blasts of cold this well, his team could save him fine from something a little more full-coverage-but before he could fire, the white hats showed up to the boy's defense, sans the cute brunette.

Foolish lot, these hero types. No masks on them. Len would be able to track them all easily. He already knew STAR Labs was involved thanks to the older Flash.

Huh. Flash. Maybe that's why the younger version added 'Kid'. Since Len didn't have a name for him yet, it was as good a title as any. After all, thanks to the rescue team, Len also had his own nickname now.

Captain Cold. Adorable. It was perfect, and would absolutely stick around.

Strange though that Flash hadn't shown up to assist his baby brother when he'd obviously needed the help. Flash was faster than his younger counterpart. More experienced maybe. Pity if he lived in some other city, but if another speedster was saving people somewhere, it would have made national news by now. No, he was local like Kid Flash, Len just had to figure out why he stayed hidden.

Even stranger were the dreams Len had been having ever since he saw that youthful face. Nothing familiar or normal like a played out scene, more like living energy he couldn't quite explain, like that lightning trail the speedsters left behind them, but all around Len, brilliant and endless, spanning through distance and time like he could get lost there and never find his way home.

He hated those dreams, almost woke short of breath like fighting a nightmare, but Flash's voice, "It's only a matter of time," that voice was there to call him home, even though he never recalled the words used in the dreams.

Clearly, all this mid-life crisis was making him sentimental.

He needed a plan. He needed to take his time. He needed to keep Mick happy, and today that meant lunch at Saints and Sinners, Len's treat, to begin working on their next move. If all went well, Lisa would want in too.